


love's a fragile little flame, it could burn out

by bryndentully



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:50:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2573891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bryndentully/pseuds/bryndentully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"What do you want from us?"</em>
</p><p> </p><p>  <em>"That little heart of yours."</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	love's a fragile little flame, it could burn out

**Author's Note:**

> A rambling fic for [queerlaferry](http://www.queerlaferry.tumblr.com) with heavy borrowing from their headcanons. I'm not quite happy with the final result and not sold on my interpretations of every character's voice, but I hope it reads okay. (◡‿◡✿) It relies on unrequited-ish!Danny/Laura and Laura/Carmilla but ends in the OT3.
> 
> It's gonna get super dated, especially after Episode 28 and Laura's canonical ask the following day about Danny not actually being missing (disproving fan theories) and just keeping her distance, but--AU!
> 
> Hope it's enjoyed!

The first thing Danny thinks is _ow_.

Hand pressed to the back of her head, the first thing Danny sees is LaFontaine.

"Oh, good," they say, looking relieved. "You're up."

"Sorta," Danny croaks, blinking. "Where--?" Her free hand feels along a wall; long legs in her favorite SumSoc sweats stretch out ahead of her. Further inspection reveals Lafontaine in the same position and that they're in a basement reeking of mildew. Danny just can't remember how she got here. Or _when_. She'd been another solo stag hunt, and then…nothing. What day is it? Danny thinks, eyebrows furrowing together. She feels along her wrist for her watch, sucking in a breath. No watch, but new bruises. No phone in the pockets of her sweatshirt, either.

Danny takes another survey of the room. A window no bigger than a textbook, several feet above her. A square on the ceiling--a trapdoor? She wonders, fingertips reaching just shy of the wood. (Danny can't recall the last time she was too short for something.) She sits down again, adjusting to aches and pains of injuries she can't remember getting. _I put up a fight, didn't I_? Danny muses, discomforted.

"Panicking yet?" LaF queries, watching with the reluctant interest of having nothing else to look at, nothing else to distract themselves with. Danny frowns, but refrains from answering. The basement is somehow _more_ disgusting than the aftermath of a Zeta bash (Danny's seen plenty of those, unfortunately) but doesn't have any tells. They could be anywhere on campus and Danny wouldn't know any different. A sliver of fear dips into her stomach, rooting deep.

"Does anyone know we're here?" Danny asks at length.

For the first time, Danny sees LaF's infamous charisma falter.

"They might," they say, and Danny catches a glimpse of something they've been turning over in their hands. A phone, with its screen cracked straight down the middle. "I got a few tweets in before Count Deancula stepped on it."

Danny grimaces.

"Laura'll find us," LaF says after a moment of silence. "Her, Carmilla, Perry…"

Danny wishes for that kind of confidence.

* * *

Through the small expanse of window Danny and LaFontaine are given, the sun sets.

Carmilla'll be up, Danny thinks, put off by the thought. By remembering. Which means--

The trapdoor creaks open, bringing the absolute last person Danny wants to see into view.

"Comfortable?" The Dean inquires, smiling unpleasantly.

"Could use some cookies," LaFontaine pipes up when Danny fumbles for words. Predictable that LaF has sarcasm ready. All Danny has is directionless rage. "Maybe a microscope, now that I think about it…"

Danny can't muster the ire to glare at them. She saves it all for the Dean.

"What do you want from us?"

The Dean laughs. It's more melodious than Danny expects.

"That little heart of yours," says Carmilla's mother-- _the Dean_. In all her jealousy Danny can't reconcile Carmilla with…this. That, and the knowledge that Carmilla will never scare Danny any more than the Dean will right now, with Danny and LaF completely at her mercy. "I've aged well," the Dean continues, one manicured finger touching her cheek, then the lines near her eyes. Danny imagines that hand closing around her heart and squeezing. "It doesn't last long, unfortunately for me. Eternal life has its price." Another laugh. "Nothing a sacrifice won't cure."

Danny feels sick. LaF looks like they've seen a ghost.

Satisfied, the Dean beckons to someone Danny can't see. Moments later, a tablet is passed to her, then given to Danny, who takes it wordlessly. Every app is disabled, except for the Silas hosted web channel where Laura uploads her videos.

"Enjoy," the Dean declares, and shuts the trapdoor, leaving Danny and LaF in darkness.

* * *

" _They could've taken her anywhere_ ," Perry says as soon as the video loads. LaF makes a noise, scooting closer to Danny to watch. They share the wall this time, pressed shoulder to shoulder. " _They could be doing…anything…_ "

"She always does that," LaF mumbles, pointing. "That hand thing. When she's upset."

Carmilla interrupts. Danny watches Laura.

"Why wouldn't you have given her a bracelet too?" Perry demands, sounding close to tears. LaF sucks in a breath. Not sure if she should risk commiserating or not, Danny opts to knock at LaFontaine's knee with her own. Danny vividly remembers the coolness between them, but now she guesses it doesn't matter much anymore.

"Keep playing it, Lawrence," LaF orders, gruffly. Danny obeys.

"What if the last thing she remembers is that I was awful to her?"

Danny gives LaFontaine a minute of privacy to collect themselves before the video winds on. Perry cries, Laura gets pretty damn close, and Carmilla volunteers words of encouragement that Danny would've agreed with--for once--if she were present. Laura returns her attention to her viewers.

"If you are on the Silas campus, you are in danger."

"Duh," Carmilla interjects, echoed by Danny and LaFontaine. It's the lightest moment they've had since Danny woke up, although it doesn't last long. (Not for Danny, at least.)

She feels LaFontaine's eyes on her as Laura and Carmilla share a quick dance. Danny's eyes feel like they're burning. After Laura declares _worst crush ever_ Danny hands the tablet to LaFontaine and stands up, seeking what little space the basement will give her. She's fine. It's fine. Laura wants this.

"Could be worse," LaFontaine says. "They coulda _kissed_."

Danny thinks Laura and Carmilla will be at that point before she knows it.

"LaFontaine, please just…be quiet."

"Sure thing, boss."

* * *

They aren't let out.

They _are_ given food--all from Hemingway Hall, _gross_ \--and nothing else.

They have a closet sized bathroom and that one, tiny window.

And they have the tablet.

Loath as she is to admit it, Danny has to give the Dean props. It's the worst possible thing she can think of (besides being locked up on her own damn campus) without getting into actual torture. Being one of the Summer Society's best, but utterly powerless; being inches from an escape route (LaF trying to open the trapdoor on Danny's shoulders causes more trouble than it is worth) but just out of reach; knowing Laura is safe, but in Carmilla's company.

Perry, meanwhile, becomes a constant presence in their room, as if sticking around will bring LaFontaine back. Danny has gotten into the habit of relinquishing the tablet to LaF whenever Perry talks. It's just easier that way.

It isn't for three whole videos that Laura brings up Danny.

 _I'm right here_ , Danny wants to scream. _Why haven't you noticed me_?

"None of the Summer Society girls have seen her," Laura is telling Carmilla, reaching for another cookie to snack on. "And she hasn't been in class for a while…I'm starting to get worried."

"She could be having a life of her own," Carmilla points out with much less venom than Danny expects.

"Without telling anyone?"

"It could happen."

"That's not like Danny," Laura reiterates firmly. She addresses the camera now, adopting a look that Danny can never refuse. "Danny..." Laura starts, then stops, searching for the right phrasing. She's always good for that, Danny concedes. Saying just the right thing. In class, in her papers, even face to face. Even when Danny didn't want to hear it.

Earnest, Laura tries again. "I miss you," Laura admits. To Danny's vindictive delight, Carmilla is doing a poor job of faking indifference. (Even so, Danny feels a little guilty. Laura is just so easy to like. And too easy to get jealous over.)

"Stop by sometime, will ya?" Laura concludes, hopefully.

Oh, Danny _hopes_.

* * *

Wanting to make good use of whatever time she has left, Danny exercises. Push ups, pull ups from the window ledge, sit ups, and lunges. Repeats the cycle. It keeps her mind off everything and tires her out, making the nights easier to get through. She and LaFontaine agree on this--the nights are the worst part. Above them, the Dean's followers rattle the trapdoor, trying to rile them up, and bring unsuspecting students to be eaten alive. Danny's listened to six girls die, and wonders if she'll go suddenly and painlessly, or slowly, locked up like a rat in a cage.

* * *

"I spy with my little eye…something red."

"My hair."

"How did you _know_?" LaFontaine exclaims.

Danny just sighs.

"Okay, okay. I get it. New game. Truth or dare."

Danny rolls her eyes. Not so solitary confinement is starting to _suck_.

* * *

Danny's thoughts are getting a little...morbid. The sacrifice is all she can think of. The Dean was all too happy to let her know that her heart is crucial to the process. If it has to be broken, too, that's been covered twice over.

Danny just never imagined dying would be so definite. Straight to the point, no doubt about it. The Summer Society makes it so abstract by comparison.

Danny runs her fingertips along her wrist, searching for her pulse. Your days are numbered, it seems to say, pounding against Danny's skin, pace rhythmic and consistent. The average human heart beats more than two billion times in a lifetime, she recalls from a science class in high school.

How many beats does Danny have left?

* * *

Stopping a very annoying, hummed rendition of Bill Nye the Science Guy, LaF fixes Danny with a look, expression thoughtful. "D'you think it's a…" They trail off. "… _virgin_ sacrifice deal?"

Danny stares. LaFontaine returns it, scrutinizing Danny up and down.

"…'Cause I'm _not_. Kinda messes up those prerequisites. Wait. Are _you_?"

To LaFontaine's chagrin, Danny deigns not to answer.

* * *

"It's been two weeks, LaFontaine," Perry greets at the beginning of Laura's thirty sixth video, curls bobbing as she speaks. Laura's brushing her teeth in the background; Carmilla's pretending to be asleep. LaFontaine watches and Danny listens, pulling at the frayed edge of her sweatshirt for something to do. "We haven't been apart for this long since we were twelve years old," Perry recalls, voice breaking by the end. A sniff. Danny isn't sure who it came from. She bites her tongue, willing herself not to look at LaFontaine. They're something, but not friends. Not close enough, even now.

"Remember?" Perry goes on, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. By Danny's count, she's gone through at least a dozen boxes. "Your parents took you on that--that Caribbean cruise. You called me from Bermuda and said you were gonna swim all the way home."

Perry's quiet for a second. She inhales, long overwrought with LaFontaine's disappearance. Exit, Danny corrects silently. Nobody at Silas will question the note, unless they've been paying attention to Laura's videos. "Wherever you are, I hope you know I'm so sorry…"

Danny pretends not to notice LaFontaine's sob. She knocks at their knee again, earning a watery laugh.

"Think we'll ever get outta here?" LaFontaine queries, sniffling.

Nope, Danny thinks.

"Maybe," she answers, finally. "I have a plan."

* * *

Plan C does _not_ work. Danny gets another black eye for trying to pull down the vampire that delivers their food and loses the day's dinner as punishment.

"Great idea," LaF mutters, stalking to their wall.

"Shut _up_ , LaFontaine," Danny snarls, settling in on her side of the basement.

It takes all of her willpower not to throw the tablet, just for the fleeting pleasure of knowing that it belongs to the Dean, and that it'll be utterly destroyed.

She can't. She _can't_.

* * *

"Nobody's stopped looking for you," Andrea tells the camera. Jenny and Elizabeth nod, solemnly. Laura invited the whole Summer Society on to her show. And Kirsch, who's pledged the Zetas's aid (sans Will, Danny suspects). "We have 'round the clock patrols and we're not gonna stop until we find you, Danny," Elizabeth asserts, brandishing her lacrosse stick like a sword. (It actually _is_ a sword, hidden under the plastic covering.)

"And LaFontaine," Jenny chimes in, earning a grateful look from Perry.

Annoyed with the overabundance of Huntresses who keep eating all of Laura's cookies and (to Danny's amusement) giving her the cold shoulder, Carmilla simply sighs.

* * *

Laura and Carmilla waltz every night.

Danny feels like she shouldn't be watching so devotedly. Is it an invasion of privacy if Laura puts this out for everyone to see? Danny wonders, gloomily. She's _got_ to get over this already. Really. Laura isn't interested, no matter what Danny thinks.

Carmilla twirls Laura and pulls her close again. Danny can't muster surprise when they share a kiss. (Their first on camera.) Danny expects this. Knew it was coming for some time now. It looks inevitable, as if they were tumbling this way all along, with Danny serving as just another obstacle.

"Wait," Laura breathes, very reluctantly drawing away to check her phone, oblivious to Carmilla's disappointment. "Elizabeth thinks she has a lead. Are you coming?"

"Lead the way, cupcake," Carmilla answers with only some disgruntlement, reaching for her baseball bat and the camera's off button.

* * *

Danny's starting to lose hope. She and LaFontaine are no closer to escaping than they are to being rescued.

Laura is getting absolutely _painful_ to watch. Even Carmilla looks dismayed.

"I just got a note about you," Laura informs the camera, dull and despairing. "This just doesn't…make any sense. You have to come back, Danny. Hear me? You _have_ to." Laura wipes her eyes on her sleeve, and covers Carmilla's hand on her shoulder with her own. Perry lounges in the background, sad and silent. "College is supposed to-- _Silas_ was supposed to be fun. Now my friends and six more students are missing, presumed dead, and--" Laura's voice gets hoarse. Carmilla flips agitatedly through a book almost as big as her body, nearly ripping the pages out in the process. Laura never uses time lapses anymore; the videos are lengthening and continue to cover the weirdness of Silas, in spite of the Dean's many warnings.

Carmilla is the only one who still takes her seriously, Danny notes. Perry's adopting Laura's aggression, albeit gradually. (This concerns LaFontaine, because it's so not _Perry_.)

"You know what?" Laura says all of a sudden. "No. _No_. Screw it. Screw all of it. We're not giving up."

"No, we're not," Perry chimes in, primly. Carmilla raise a fist in solidarity, sardonic as ever.

"We're not gonna stop looking," Laura decides, earning a small smile from LaFontaine. Fast friends, they are. "This isn't over, _Dean_ ," Laura all but yells, before lapsing into even more posturing and strategy making with Perry. This coming from someone who considers a spatula a good weapon, and has a penchant for broadcasting her next move--like ambushing the sentient, slow to forgive library--on Twitter.

"Oh boy," Danny mutters, disbelieving. Unsurprisingly, Carmilla agrees. (That's gotten more and more frequent as of late--Danny and Carmilla sharing an opinion. Which is…definitely weird. Carmilla dislikes sharing, especially when it comes to burgeoning reporters with sweet teeth.) Laura's adventures are getting riskier, but Carmilla manages to keep her out of trouble. And happy, despite _everything_. Danny can't bring herself to get too upset about it. If Laura's safe, good. If Laura's dating, if Laura's in love, even better. Why begrudge something so… _good_?

(It hurts, but Danny's learning how to deal with it.)

And if Danny somehow miraculously gets out of here, she's buying Carmilla cupcakes in bulk.

* * *

"I need you to come back, LaFontaine," Perry begs after another unsuccessful search. " _Please_. I don't know what I'll do if, if…" She can't finish.

"I'm not gonna stop looking, even if it kills me," Laura promises in askance, apologetic and determined, all at once.

Danny really, _really_ hopes it doesn't.

* * *

"Tomorrow's the big day," the lackey declares. Comprehension dawning quickly, Danny looks away.

Tomorrow, the Dean's going to…what? Cut out her heart and eat it? Tell a mirror she's the fairest one of all? Serve it to her fanged kids on a silver platter? Send it to the doorstep of the Summer Society? Danny doesn't wanna know. Every rumor about the Dean comes to mind, each one more frightening than the last.

"Get bent," LaF throws back, fuming.

Amidst laughter, the trapdoor slams shut. "Don't listen to 'em," they add, offering Danny the tray in consolation. She declines, feeling nauseated. This was what her work at Silas was building to? Her whole stinking life, prior to school? Childhood, teen years, a taste of adulthood…and then death. That's it, no do overs. It just isn't _fair_.

Danny wraps her arms around her knees, feeling small. She's a Summer Sister. A TA. A college student, a friend, a roommate, a daughter, a woman, a leader. Was everything about her just freakin' pointless in the end?

"We'll stop it," LaF tells her.

" _How_?" Danny snaps, frustration surging up like a storm and finding the only target available to her. LaFontaine doesn't deserve Danny's anger, much less anyone's. Danny just can't stop yelling. She's shaking. She wants to kick something. She wants out of here, hell or high water. "How, LaFontaine? Enlighten me." LaF opens their mouth, abashed. Danny plows on. " _We're stuck here_! Don't you get it yet? I'm not getting out. I'm--" Danny drags a hand through her hair, tempted to tear it all out. "I'm gonna die here. _You're_ gonna die here. Get that through your head already."

LaFontaine doesn't say another word.

* * *

Danny doesn't sleep. Can't, won't bother trying. Instead, she watches Laura's videos. All of them, beginning to end. It's startling to see how much she's been unaware of, how much has changed in so short a span of time. Danny's been gone a month, but it feels like longer. Danny thinks she's had all the facts this whole damn time, and she's wrong. Really wrong.

 _Even you deserve better_.

 _Well, if you weren’t trying to eat me, then what were you trying to…oh_...

Yeah, Danny feels really stupid.

"What are the chances of Danny pulling a _Gone Girl_ on us?" Laura asks, accepting her TARDIS mug from Carmilla.

"Very slim," Carmilla deadpans, ending the video with a Jim Halpert esque look to the screen. At this point, Danny's relinquished any animosity for Carmilla, even if the vampire hasn't yet done the same. Maybe she's desperate, maybe she's unhinged, but hanging onto grudges seems like the worst thing to do. Danny's seen the embarrassing puppet show, listened to Carmilla's 'tragic backstory' firsthand, understood some of what makes Carmilla tick. There isn't much left to do but accept Carmilla's change of heart and conviction to protect Laura. If Carmilla can admit as much to Laura's audience, why can't Danny suck it up and admit it to herself?

It's in that minute that Danny is struck with an idea. She fiddles with the channel controls, searching for the user profile. The other websites on the browser are disabled--Stheno Firewalls, it reads, emblazoned with an image of a woman with snakes for her hair--but the video hosting service, Danny discovers, is a two way connection. She and LaFontaine don't have any other way to communicate unless they upload their own video and post it on Laura's channel. Everyone will see it, of course, but Danny can't bring herself to care. Impending doom will do that to anyone, she concludes.

Laura's smiling icon pops up, followed by a login screen. "Found ya," Danny mumbles, typing in Laura's ID and password. She'd seen it by accident during the Carmilla-is-a-vampire-investigation and the silliness attributable only to Laura Hollis has stuck with her ever since ('neptuneparrots'--Laura really does watch a little _too_ much of Veronica Mars when she should be writing papers). 

_Add video_ , Danny clicks, and to her immense relief, sees herself reflected on the screen, ready to broadcast. 

"LaFontaine," Danny hisses, stretching out a leg to rouse them. Again, harder, as LaFontaine grumbles in protest. "LaFontaine, get up!"

"Whazzthematter?"

Danny extends the tablet. "We're recording a video."

* * *

LaF goes first. Most of it is for Perry, and some for Laura. Instructions on how to dispose of hidden experiments, a request to tell off the Alchemy Club, hurried goodbyes to their family, and bequeathing everything in their room to Perry herself. LaF makes a few jokes, but Danny detects and understands a terrifying finality, here. Whatever the Dean has been doing, all these years, LaFontaine and Danny are her next targets. And according to Carmilla, the Dean's never going to lose.

"I don't wanna go, Per," LaFontaine admits. "Huh. When am _I_ ever scared?"

Then it's Danny's turn.

"Hi," she says, unsure of where exactly to start. She never imagined recording a Dear John--Jane?--video, least of all before a ritualistic death. _In college_. It's a weird feeling. Danny clears her throat, wincing. "So…I guess this is...it." That sinks in at last, completely, leaving Danny nearly breathless. _No_. She has to do this. She has to get her goodbye out before it's twisted into a tragedy by the Dean's PR. Danny starts over a third time.

Her goodbye are hard. Before Danny can totally lose her composure, she delegates command of the Summer Society to Amber, another junior, praises every member she can think of, especially the youngest girls, and wishes them well. They'll protect each other even better after she's gone--Danny has no doubt. Her family is next, from her parents to all five of her brothers. Some of her more memorable professors follow, and finally, she directs the rest to Laura.

"Hey," Danny says, quieter, as if Laura is to receive a private video. "I-I watched all your videos, and I just wanna say…I get it now. I really do. You should be happy. That's all I--it's a last request," Danny elaborates, throat tight. LaFontaine looks on in silence, pityingly. "Just--be happy. As yourself. Brave, funny, sweet as hell, and way too curious for your own good. Just…um, don't forget about little old me, huh?" Danny manages a nervous laugh, feeling somewhat obliged to pass along a parting note to Carmilla while she's at this. "Keep her safe, Dead Girl." Not much of a need to say so, because Danny learned that Laura took over a decade of Krav Maga, but its the closest thing to an apology Danny's willing to give to Carmilla Karnstein and far less than one Laura herself deserves.

 _I care about you_ is almost out of Danny's mouth, soon to be rashly followed by something even heavier, but she settles for a _take care_ to finish it off, like Laura's goodbye in one of videos Danny was in. (God, she is so _lame_.) After a moment of thought, Danny ends the video, and sets it to render and post when it's ready.

"Sap," LaF murmurs, almost fondly.

"Shut up, LaFontaine."

* * *

"Rise and shine," says the lackey, opening the trapdoor. Will accompanies him, sidling a wary look at Danny when she's brought up, followed by LaFontaine. Danny ponders the chances of making a last ditch escape attempt with LaF thrown over her shoulder if push came to shove, but the ten or so vampires standing around has her reconsidering and later abandoning the idea.

They're escorted to what looks to be an old dining hall, now converted to a scene out of a B grade horror movie. There's an altar, someone throwing incense, chanting students in robes, and finally, the Dean, toying with the blade of a dagger, perfectly at ease. Danny meets her gaze without flinching, head held high.

"Up," the Dean orders, gesturing to the altar with a snap of her fingers. Danny complies and lays down on the slab of stone, even if it's too small for her. Weirdly enough, she's not nearly as scared as she should be. Being in the Summer Society places her in a lot of precarious situations, but this is different. Final. _At least I'll only go through it once_ , she thinks, clenching her hands into fists at her sides.

The Dean ascends the dais, dagger glinting almost as dangerously as her smile.

Danny squeezes her eyes shut, tensing. Ready. Not ready. Ready. Righteous and ready and brave and not cowardly. Not ready, not ready, not ready...

"Now, let's see th--" The Dean begins, until she's cut off.

Th? _Th_? What does that mean? Danny thinks in confused panic, before something splatters.

She cracks open one eye, then the other, just in time to see the Dean, still as a statue, gazing down in horror at the stake the size of a battering ram sticking out of her chest. There's a silence, and then a terrible scream, and then the Dean disintegrates, guts, sinew, and bone painting the surrounding stones in a wash of black blood. The room erupts in noise as Danny sits up to rest on her elbows, dragging her eyes away from the gore.

LaFontaine jams a thurible at the nearest vampire, breaking out of their hold. A Summer Sister shoots Will dead with a single shot from a crossbow, accompanied by a deluge of armed and yelling Sisters. Perry ( _???_ ) appears with an axe and decapitates a member of the Dean's cult, bellowing like William Wallace. Kirsch and a handful of loyal Zetas stampede through the door, scattering to back up the SumSoc. Laura appears and ( _!!!_ ) throws punch after punch, wading her way through the crowd to Danny, but it's Carmilla who reaches her first.

"My, my," Carmilla hums, forthcoming insult completely ruined by her grin. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

Danny can only gape.

"'Take care'?" Laura demands once she's bypassed the fray and joined them on the dais, indignation written all over her face. "Really?"

* * *

Desperately due for a shower, Danny lets herself be steered to Laura's room, giving LaFontaine, arms laden with a blabbering, apologizing Perry, a wave. They'll all reconvene later as a group, once everyone gets settled. The SumSoc gladly shoos Danny away in the meantime, promising to clean up.

"The Dean's gone, but who knows what else is out there?" Laura mumbles as she tugs Danny along, understandably more paranoid than ever and apparently unwilling to let Danny out of her sight anytime soon. Danny manages to persuade Laura out of _chaperoning_ the shower, and shuts the door on Carmilla's smirk.

The shower's great, but the room is…a problem. It's too small, and after an experience like she's had, Danny needs space and lots of it.

Toweling off and pulling on some pajamas, Danny checks the mirror. Somebody gaunt and exhausted reflects back, looking like absolute _shit_.

Breaking her gaze, Danny sighs. She isn't sure how long she's been in here, exactly. She can leave. Should. She isn't stuck in this room like she was the basement. Danny can get out anytime she wants. Like now. _Now_. Danny fiddles with the doorknob, tugging on it violently. Open, open, open, Danny thinks in desperation, latent fear and hopelessness focusing on an old dorm door. When it's about to give way, it's yanked from the outside, revealing a surprised Carmilla. Danny removes her hand from the knob, uncomfortably. Of course she has to panic, now, after it's all over, in front of _Carmilla_. 

"You okay?" Carmilla asks, carefully. "It's pretty small in there. _Confining_."

In the middle of another round of self deprecation, it take Danny a few seconds to process. Carmilla's being…kind. Without prompting, without expecting something out of it. She gets it. She knows what's upsetting Danny. To the nth degree, Danny remembers in an instant, unable to draw her eyes away. How did Carmilla survive decades in a coffin, while Danny can barely keep her cool in a bathroom for only twenty minutes?

It's disconcerting, Danny muses. She's seeing someone she spent a lot of time disliking for one big selfish reason in a new light. Flushed, Danny nods, tucking a strand of stray tress of hair behind her ear.

"Laura'll be back soon," Carmilla explains, as they continue to stare at each other, unmoving and contemplative. They aren't this civil, ever; Danny patronizes and Carmilla sneers, and once Carmilla nearly choked Danny after a misguided Danny barged in, armed with a stake...

That was then. Before Danny got what the Dean is. Was. What Carmilla struggled and failed to get away from.

Danny's getting better at giving Carmilla empathy.

"She said something about 'shaking down the cafe for pie'. Or whatever," the vampire adds.

With a snort, Carmilla steps back to her bed. Danny takes Laura's. She spots a grin on Carmilla's face.

"Great," Danny says, very quietly.

The silence stretches, painfully, until Carmilla speaks again, far less awkwardly than before.

"It ate her up--you being gone. Worse than Betty," she continues, sizing Danny up from under her eyelashes. "She never gave up. Slept even less than usual."

"I know," Danny replies, not liking whatever Carmilla is implying. If this is some kind of game masquerading as an olive branch, it's sick. And Danny's tired of fighting.

Carmilla has familiar traces of impatience in her eyes, and blurts out: "She wants to date you, too."

Danny works to keep her temper in check, but can't conceal the genuine shock from her features. Carmilla watches her closely.

"Cutie has her eye on you, Stretch," Carmilla continues once she thinks Danny won't start shouting. "I don't plan to stand in your way."

"I'm not standing in _your_ way, Carmilla. I learned not to," Danny protests. This entire thing has done a ringer on Danny's nerves. All she wants to do is sleep and forget about it. "She wanted _space_ from me, not a relationship. I'm giving her that." Danny worked for awhile-- _a month_ \--to get here, to come to terms with just being Laura's friend, and Carmilla is dangling a very dangerous idea that'll undo all of her progress in one fell swoop. Danny isn't sure if Carmilla's trying to be noble or something like it, but the effort sucks.

"And if I don't want space?" Laura asks, reappearing in the doorway, startling Danny. Laura sets down a few plastic bags and kicks the door shut behind her, batting Carmilla away from the cookies.

Making her way over to her bed, Laura extends a box of pie and a fork to Danny, who takes it, mutely.

"I made Carmilla try to explain, but she gets _surprisingly_ longwinded sometimes--"

"--oh bite me, cupcake--"

"Anyway," Laura continues, acting as if Carmilla hasn't spoken, "I've been thinking. My crushes on both of you"--Danny's head jerks up--"are just... _confusing_. I'm busy. Really busy. I have finals to pass, a project to edit, a dad to keep in touch with, supernatural occurrences that give me headaches, tons of stuff. There's no time for a love life, let alone two. So, I decided the best idea is to date both of you at the same time."

Danny's starting to think she's losing it. This is crazy. This makes no _sense_.

Right?

"Like a rotation," Danny gets out, dumbstruck.

"It speaks," Carmilla mocks, fluffing up Laura's pillow before placing it between herself and the wall. To her credit, Danny sees no signs of jealousy in Carmilla. Just honesty. 

Laura nods to Danny, very patiently.

"But…I watched everything." Danny sputters, gestures from Laura to Carmilla and back with her fork. "You and Carmilla--"

" _Are_ dating. I also want to date _you_ , Danny."

Danny needs to think about this. To process. This wasn't covered in the videos. Unless…it was, and Danny hasn't been paying attention.

Giving the pair of them a long suffering sigh, Laura sets down the pie and kisses Danny. 

_Oh_ , okay. So worth waiting for.

"--kay," says Danny aloud when she can talk again, still a bit bewildered, face as bright red as her hair.

"Oh, cupcake, look at her," Carmilla drawls, eyes glittering. Laura stifles a laugh. "She's _blushing_."

"Whatever, Dead Girl," Danny grumbles, but she's smiling.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> All of your comments are so sweet, thank you so much! (▰˘◡˘▰)


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